and held on to it Thursday, finished 93rd on Friday’s stage – 49 seconds down on Sagan.

Polish rider Kwiatkowski finished second on the stage, while Australia’s Simon Clarke was third, both with the same time as Sagan.

Kwiatkowski, who won the Tour of Algarve last month, now holds a 10-second overall advantage on team-mate Rigoberto Uran ahead of Saturday’s tough fourth stage.

Sagan, a Slovak who rides for Cannondale, took more than five hours on the 212-kilometre leg from Cascina to the Tuscan town of Arezzo. The stage concluded on an 11-km circuit that featured a short uphill finish, with the last 900m at a five percent gradient.

, the so-calledLa Classicissima
one-day road race, which takes place on March 23.

“I hope so,” Sagan said when asked if this latest win could play a part. “We’ve now entered a very important part of the season.”

Stage four on Saturday is the toughest of this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico, a 244-km leg from Indicatore to Cittareale Selvarotonda that features several climbs, including a long, gruelling uphill finish.

That stage will give favourites Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana the chance to make a move on the overall lead. The race ends on Tuesday with an individual time-trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.